Baby we'll be fine
by smaragdbird
Summary: Life in the Pegasus is plain crazy but on the other hand that's what she wanted and she isn't alone this time. (Alicia Vega/Jennifer Keller)


"Just ask her out, see how it goes", was the first advice Major Anne Teldy ever gave to Alicia.

"That's okay here?" Alicia asked surprised.

"Sure", Dusty shrugged. "As long as you don't scream it from the rooftops _anything_ goes." Her smile turned smug.

"Very funny", Alicia rolled her eyes and hit Dusty's arm.

"If you two are finished we have a training session scheduled with Lorne's team and Amelia", Anne interrupted them.

"Amelia? But she's tiny!" Alicia said.

"Don't underestimate her", Allison warned her. "She can wipe the floor with half of the military contingent here. First time I've seen Laura going down in years."

/

"So, how was last night?" Dusty asked the next morning with the biggest, smuggest grin on her face Alicia had ever seen.

"How do you even-?" She started asking.

"Marie saw you dragging Dr. Keller off. She said it's been the first time Keller was actually out of the infirmary before 8 since she came to Atlantis."

"So you want all the dirty details?" Alicia asked after a moment, playing along.

"Everything", Dusty confirmed, her grin even getting slightly bigger.

"Too bad for you a lady doesn't kiss and tell", Alicia shot her down.

"If you two are done Major Lorne requested help for the inventory of tower 26", Anne said.

"Inventory?" Alicia echoed while Dusty grimaced.

"It was instable until recently but engineering finally came around to fix it", Allison added with an excited smile. "From the looks of it, it could be one of their major research labs."

"Because nothing bad ever happened in a research lab", Dusty whispered sarcastically.

/

Major Lorne was still on crutches and his leg in a cast so he was lounging in a folding chair in whatever room they were taking apart and wrote lists.

"Could you move that a bit so I can write down the rest of the inscription?" Lorne's tone was impeccably polite yet Alicia still had the nagging feeling that he was laughing at her.

"There's such a thing as taking advantage", Parrish muttered and shot Lorne a dark look.

"Are you questioning Dr. Keller's diagnosis?" Lorne asked innocently.

"I'm doubting your appreciation for our hard work", Parrish replied.

"I can show you my appreciation later if you want."

"Uh, why is everyone always flirting?" Dusty complained.

"If you need a date McKay is still single", Allison said, trying to convince the transporter to go up to the highest level.

"Guess what these do", Cadman emerged from a closet, carrying to little metallic balls.

"Do we want to know?" Alicia asked back.

"They explode", Cadman said gleefully. Dusty looked up to eye the balls greedily.

"And you suddenly can read Ancient?" Lorne asked.

"No, but there are pictures."

"Good to know. Now put these back and lock the door", Lorne told her.

"Can I keep these for studying?" Cadman asked instantly.

"As long as you don't set them off without asking first", Lorne said. "We don't know need another M3-P447."

"Or M5-P833", Anne added.

"Really?" Lorne asked.

"That was an accident", Cadman protested.

Lorne gave Anne a questioning look. She shrugged and said, "It says so in the report."

"Hey guys, you might want to see this", Allison said, poking her head out of the transporter with a triumphant smile on her face.

/

Alicia found Laura in the mess, staring into her cup of coffee as if it would offer valuable advice any moment now.

"Hey", she said, sitting down opposite Laura.

"Hey", Laura said back.

"I've heard about Lorne…I'm sorry." It felt inadequate but Laura gave her a tiny smile.

"He's not as bad as Jennifer yet but he's hearing voices. We're taking turns. I was supposed to get some sleep but…" she lifted her mug self-depreciatingly and took another sip.

"Yeah, no rest for the concerned."

"Are you okay?" Laura asked after a moment.

Alicia shrugged. "Got trouble sleeping but then who hasn't?"

"I mean about you and Jennifer."

"Everyone knows, don't they?"

"This is Atlantis. You can't keep a secret here." Laura put her hand over Alicia's. "Carson's a smart guy. He'll figure something out."

"Thanks."

/

"Jennifer, just the person I was looking for. I'm afraid I need to drag you away from your work. Something urgent has come up", Alicia said when she entered Jennifer's office. Everyone else had long left the infirmary except for Dr. Simpson and Marie who had the night shift and were playing cards.

"Is someone hurt?" Jennifer asked with concern.

"Not yet but the situation requires your presence", Alicia felt almost bad for the frown she had put on Jennifer's face but otherwise this would never work. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Marie whispering to Dr. Simpson.

"This way."

Taking Jennifer's arm she more or less dragged her out of the infirmary and into the next transporter. She quickly pressed the part of the city she wanted to go but shielding the screen from Jennifer's view.

"Where are we going?" Jennifer asked when they didn't go to the gate room or the Jumper Bay. Instead Alicia led her to another transporter.

"Trust me", Alicia smiled.

She walked out of the transporter and opened another door and then they were there. The observation deck they had found a couple weeks earlier when they had done the inventory.

They were late so the show had already begun, thousands of lights striking over the black sky.

"Is that-" Jennifer seemed to awestruck to continue.

"Meteor shower. Allison says it happens every two years. I didn't want you to miss it."

Jennifer turned to Alicia with a deeply affectionate look in her eyes and took her hand.

"Thank you", she said.

"You're welcome", Alicia answered and squeezed her hand back.

/

"Hey", Alicia said softly when she entered the observation room. Jennifer stared down at Ronon who seemed to have fallen into a restless sleep or maybe the exhaustion had rendered him unconscious. But Alicia was more concerned with Jennifer who looked worn down and tired.

"Oh, hey", Jennifer said, finally turning her head to Alicia with a weak smile.

"Is he going to be okay?" Alicia asked tentatively.

"I hope so", Jennifer said softly, her eyes going back to Ronon.

Alicia crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Jennifer's waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. "You should get some sleep."

"I can't", Jennifer replied. "Not until he's through the worst."

Alicia sighed but she didn't argue. "Do you want me to stay?" She asked instead.

"Please."

"Sure", Alicia said and wrapped her arms more closely around Jennifer.

/

Since Sundays had become something to avoid (because not even scientists were immune to superstition) Thursday evenings had become movie nights or so Dr. Corrigan, Stackhouse's archaeologist, was explaining to Alicia while they were carrying the botany and chemists possibly illegal keg of beer to the meeting place in the bottom of Tower 14.

"Also never assume you're safe", he advised her. As if she didn't know that already. "You visit a planet on the wrong day and suddenly your allies want to make you into soup."

"Soup?" She asked. She had heard a lot of crazy stuff so far but soup was something new.

"Ask Laura about it after she's had a few drinks. Or Parrish. Lorne and Reed are tight-lipped even when three sheets to the wind."

"Soup?" Alicia asked again, her mind still stuck on the topic.

Corrigan grinned and opened the basement door.

Someone had dragged cushions and sofas from the surrounding unused living quarters and put them all into one room. The giant plasma TV had been contributed by Lorne's team (apparently Sheppard occasionally bribed Lorne to do his paperwork) while the Xbox came from Stackhouse's team (being stuck in Pegasus for a year without being able to spend money made some things easily affordable).

Anne and Parrish were squabbling over the choice of movie while Dusty had stolen Allison's PDA and Cadman and Stackhouse were all but draped over each other.

"Give it back!" Allison tried to reach for it but Dusty had the advantage being two inches taller.

"No work during movie night", Dusty reminded her gleefully.

Alicia rolled her eyes at them and settled down between Jennifer's leg who had managed to get the only armchair in the room. She was frowning at something on her PDA as well.

"Hey", Alicia said and tugged at a strand of her hair. "Work's done for the day, remember?"

"Sorry", Jennifer's smile was slightly guilty around the edges so Alicia kissed her until it went away.

"What's the matter?" She asked when Jennifer was still frowning.

"It's just…Rodney seemed different."

"Different?"

"Nicer. I know it sounds weird."

Actually it didn't because Alicia had a perfectly valid suspicion why McKay would be nice to Jennifer but if she didn't come to that conclusion herself then Alicia certainly wouldn't share it.

"So your theory is that throwing him into freezing water makes McKay nicer?" Alicia asked instead and continued to play with a strand of Jennifer's hair. "That might lead to a lot of buckets being carried around."

Jennifer smiled. "Maybe he's just turning over a new leaf." She tilted her head upwards, capturing Alicia's lips with her own. The angle was slightly awkward but Alicia wasn't going to complain anytime soon.

"When you two are done snogging like teenagers could you pass me the popcorn?" Dusty asked in a bored voice. Alicia flipped her off with one hand while thrusting the popcorn bowl into her direction with the other. That was no reason at all to stop kissing.

The movie had probably been boring anyway.

/

She was in bed, warm and sleepy and Jennifer was curled along her back, kissing her shoulder. Alicia wasn't even bothering to open her eyes. She would just stay here, like this, forever.

"You need to wake up", Jennifer said softly.

Alicia made a protesting noise in the back of her throat.

"You need to wake up", Jennifer said again, more urgently this time.

"I don't want to", Alicia said into her pillow.

Jennifer leaned over and brushed a strand of Alicia's hair out of her face. "Please wake up."

Alicia opened her eyes. She was in bed but not hers and this wasn't her room but the infirmary. Jennifer was sitting next to her bed and looked close to tears, which was all kinds of wrong.

"Hey", Alicia croaked. Her throat was dry and she felt exhausted.

"Hey", Jennifer answered and softly brushed her hand over Alicia's face.

"Was demons after all, wasn't it?" Alicia asked, leaning into the touch.

"Close enough. It was one of Michal's experiments", anger coloured Jennifer's voice as if she would like to do several things to Michal which would go against the Hippocratic Oath. Then she looked at Alicia again and all that anger was gone instantly. "You scared me."

"Sorry. I'll try not to do it again."

"I should tell your team you're awake. They're waiting outside."

"Don't fucking do this again", Dusty yelled before she was even inside the room.

"What she said", Allison said with a head tilt in Dusty's direction.

"I expect not to see you here again except for a routine check up", Anne added.

"Don't worry", Lorne and his team had come as well. "They'll get used to it after the first time 50 times or so."

"I don't really want to test that theory", Alicia told him.

"Good", Laura grinned. "We don't want you to either."

"It's good to see you", Parrish said as well, standing next to Lorne.

"Colonel Sheppard is on M7 but he saved you a chocolate bar from today's lunch", Anne put the bar on the nightstand.

"So getting injured gets you extra chocolate?" Laura asked. "Find me some of those monsters now. I only ever got soup!"

Everyone laughed and Alicia asked, "By the way, what's that story about you guys being turned into soup about?"


End file.
